Phrase guide

city hall

name · noun · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • UK: /ˈsɪti ˌhɔːl/
  • UK: /ˈsɪtɪ ˌhɔːl/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • US: /ˈsɪti ˌhɔl/
  • cot-caught-merger: /ˈsɪti ˌhɑl/

1

name

Meaning 1

Any specific city hall, which in context (i.e., discussions within its city or about its city) is called by this name, written in capital letters.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

The building that houses a city's government.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • Near-synonym: town hall
  • A new city hall was built after the big fire of 1883.
  • The vice-mayor has an office on the third floor of city hall.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: town hall

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

The city government (city council, mayor, etc.); government in general.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: figuratively, metonymically

Examples

  • Near-synonym: town hall
  • you can't fight city hall
  • The company got tired of the red tape from city hall and began planning to relocate to another city.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: town hall

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

a building that houses administrative offices of a municipal government

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: hall

History

Etymology

By proprialization from city hall.

Across languages

Translations

105 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: stadsaal — building
  • Arabic: بَلَدِيَّة (baladiyya) — building
  • Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܒܹܝܬ ܡܕܝܼܢ݇ܬܵܐ (bēt mdīta) — building
  • Armenian: քաղաքապետարան (kʻaġakʻapetaran) — building
  • Basque: udaletxe — building
  • Bulgarian: кметство (kmetstvo) — building
  • Bulgarian: община (obština) — building
  • Catalan: ajuntament — building
  • Catalan: casa de la vila — building
  • Catalan: casa consistorial — building
  • Catalan: casa de la ciutat — building
  • Chinese Mandarin: 大會堂 /大会堂 (dàhuìtáng) — building
  • Chinese Mandarin: 市政廳 /市政厅 (shìzhèngtīng) — building
  • Czech: radnice — building
  • Danish: rådhus — building
  • Dutch: stadhuis — building
  • Dutch: raadhuis — building
  • Esperanto: urbdomo — building
  • Esperanto: urbodomo — building
  • Estonian: vallamaja — building
  • Finnish: kaupungintalo — building
  • French: hôtel de ville — building
  • French: mairie — building
  • French: maison communale — building
  • Galician: casa do concello — building
  • German: Rathaus — building
  • Greek: δημαρχείο (dimarcheío) — building
  • Hebrew: בִּנְיַן עִירִיָּה (binyán 'iriyá) — building
  • Hungarian: városháza — building
  • Icelandic: ráðhús — building
  • Irish: halla cathrach — building
  • Italian: municipio — building
  • Italian: comune — building
  • Japanese: 市役所 (shiyakusho) — building
  • Khmer: សាលាក្រុង (sālā krong) — building
  • Korean: 시청사 (sicheongsa) — building
  • Kven: raatihuonet — building
  • Latvian: rātsnams — building
  • Lithuanian: rotušė — building
  • Macedonian: гра́дска ку́ќа (grádska kúḱa) — building
  • Macedonian: гра́дски дом (grádski dom) — building
  • Norwegian: rådhus — building
  • Pannonian Rusyn: городска хижа (horodska xiža) — building
  • Plautdietsch: Stautshus — building
  • Polish: ratusz — building
  • Polish: urząd miejski — building
  • Polish: magistrat — building
  • Portuguese: câmara municipal — building
  • Portuguese: prefeitura — building
  • Romanian: primărie — building
  • Russian: зда́ние муниципалите́та (zdánije municipalitéta) — building
  • Russian: ра́туша (rátuša) — building
  • Serbo-Croatian: већница — building
  • Serbo-Croatian: većnica — building
  • Lower Sorbian: radnica — building
  • Lower Sorbian: raźcownja — building
  • Upper Sorbian: radnica — building
  • Upper Sorbian: radna chěža — building
  • Spanish: alcaldía — building
  • Spanish: ayuntamiento — building
  • Spanish: consistorio — building
  • Spanish: casa consistorial — building
  • Swedish: rådhus — building
  • Swedish: stadshus — building
  • Tagalog: gusaling panlunsod — building
  • Tagalog: 7hol — building
  • Turkish: belediye binası — building
  • Ukrainian: ра́туша (rátuša) — building
  • Ukrainian: ме́рія (mérija) — building
  • Vietnamese: tòa thị chính — building
  • Vietnamese: tòa thị chánh — building
  • Vietnamese: tòa thị sảnh — building
  • Volapük: konsälöp — building
  • Basque: udal — government
  • Catalan: ajuntament — government
  • Catalan: batllia — government
  • Catalan: consistori — government
  • Chinese Mandarin: 市政府 (shìzhèngfǔ) — government
  • Czech: radnice — government
  • Czech: magistrát — government
  • Danish: rådhus — government
  • Dutch: raadhuis — government
  • Dutch: stadhuis — government
  • Dutch: gemeentehuis — government
  • Esperanto: urbreĝistaro — government
  • Finnish: kaupunginhallitus — government
  • French: mairie — government
  • Galician: concello — government
  • German: Rathaus — government
  • Greek: δημαρχείο (dimarcheío) — government
  • Italian: comune — government
  • Korean: 시청 (sicheong) — government
  • Macedonian: о́пштина (ópština) — government
  • Macedonian: гра́дска у́права (grádska úprava) — government
  • Macedonian: гра́дски со́вет (grádski sóvet) — government
  • Polish: ratusz — government
  • Polish: urząd miasta — government
  • Polish: magistrat — government
  • Portuguese: câmara municipal — government
  • Portuguese: prefeitura — government
  • Russian: муниципалите́т (municipalitét) — government
  • Russian: городско́й сове́т (gorodskój sovét) — government
  • Spanish: alcaldía — government
  • Spanish: ayuntamiento — government
  • Spanish: consistorio — government